Saturday, May 26, 2012

Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group will have been interested to hear the latest comments from Pep Guardiola who suggested he could consider cutting short his sabbatical from the game.

The former Barcelona manager said that he was going to take a year off from management after an incredibly successful spell in charge of the Catalan club.

Guardiola will take charge of Barcelona for the final time on Friday evening when they play Athletic Bilbao in the Copa Del Ray final as he looks to add yet another trophy to his already amazing collection.

The Spaniard has been linked with both Chelsea and Liverpool in the past few weeks and both will be interested in the comments, especially the Reds who are without a manager.

Chelsea enjoyed huge success under Roberto di Matteo as they won the Champions League and the FA Cup, while Liverpool is without a boss after firing Kenny Dalglish.

"I will be pleased to receive their calls, of course, but for the next months I have to charge my batteries, charge my mind," said Guardiola, as reported on the Guardian.

"I'm going to rest and then I will wait and, when I will be ready, if one club wants me, if they seduce me, I will train again."

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez insists his 'conscience is clear' over the racism row which tainted his and the club's campaign and has described the eight-match ban he served as strange.

The Uruguay international was suspended after an independent panel appointed by the Football Association found him guilty of racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra in a match at Anfield last October.

Suarez insisted throughout he had done nothing wrong and has never publicly apologised to the Frenchman. And he still feels a sense of injustice now.

"The suspension, I suppose, you could call strange and unbelievable," the 25-year-old said in an interview with Russia Today.

"There was not a single convincing proof that I had done any of the things they accused me of doing.

"I accepted it without saying anything, obviously because they could have made [the suspension] longer and it would have just made the whole thing continue, but my conscience is completely calm, and so is that of the club and my family.

"Everyone knows that in Uruguay there is a huge black population.

"I had team-mates and friends of both colours all the time in the national team, in Liverpool, in Holland, where the majority are from Surinam, and I never had any problem with them.

"Holland is one of the countries in the world where there is the highest number of black players and at no point was there an issue."

Suarez suggests there was a conscious campaign to get him suspended, but although he remains unhappy with his treatment by the Football Association and the media, he did not specify whom he blamed for that.

"It seems to me they had to get rid of a Liverpool player and, well, they definitely were gratified by all of this," he added.

"What the English press has said about me does not interest me.

"What interests me is what they say about me in Uruguay and in Liverpool, and they have always been very supportive.

"After the suspension I was told the fans would taunt me, they would whistle me, insult me and shout at me, but to be honest it is not something I was worried about.

"Everyone whistled me in all of the stadiums I played in all the time anyway, even before the allegation of racism.

"I tried to pay it as little attention as possible to focus on what I like to do, which is to play."

Liverpool midfielder Alberto Aquilani could still leave Anfield for AC Milan this summer, according to talkSPORT.

The Italy international has been on a season-long loan to the Serie A giants, but failed to reach the required number of appearances to trigger the £6m buyout clause. As part of the loan agreement, had Aquilani reached 25 games AC Milan would have had the automatic option to sign the 27-year-old.

Milan decided against taking up Liverpool's offer, but reports in Italy suggest the club's vice president Adriano Galliani may come back in to sign Aquilani next month.

The Italian club are thought to be waiting to sort out the futures of Mathieu Flamini and Clarence Seedorf before committing to signing their permanent replacement, and the Italian club may feel they can secure the Italian for less than £6m.

And Aquilani's agent, Franco Zavaglia, believes his player may not have played his last game in a Milan shirt.

"Nothing is certain at the moment," Zavaglia told ItaSportPress. "It is by no means certain that Milan will not decide to keep him."

Aquilani joined Liverpool in 2009 from Roma, but failed to settle on Merseyside, and has spent the last two seasons on loan to Serie A clubs.

Liverpool's owners have appointed the former managing director of Fenway Sports Management as their new chief commercial officer.

Billy Hogan, who worked for the marketing wing of John Henry's company, will be responsible for sponsorships, ticketing and hospitality, retail and merchandise, club memberships, club tours and friendlies as well as Liverpool FC's Soccer Schools.

The 37-year-old sports marketing executive will replace Graham Bartlett who parted company with the Reds in March after less than a year in the job.

He has already worked on a number of Liverpool projects, including the record-breaking £25million per year kit deal with Warrior Sports and putting together Liverpool's pre-season tour of North America.

Hogan told the club's official website: "I've witnessed first-hand the passion and loyalty fans have for this club and I look forward to working with the staff, partners and future sponsors to grow and develop Liverpool's brand and commercial presence globally to help ensure the long-term growth of this storied club."

Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre added: "Having worked at a senior level within Fenway Sports Management, Billy has been working alongside LFC for the last 18 months on a number of partnership projects and brings with him a rich pedigree of expertise and resource.

"In many respects this appointment reflects the great spirit of partnership between all of the Fenway Sports Group and LFC."

The club have also brought in former Sports Illustrated senior editor Jen Chang as their new corporate relations and communications director.